Improvement in bee-hives



. ZSheets--Sheet2. WILLIAMv R. KlNG.

. Improvement in Bee-Hives# A No. 114,690, Y Patented May 9,1871.-

e the bee-keeper.

tttzi hm WILLIAM R. KING, OF SHELBYVILL, KENTUCKY.

Letters Patent No. 114,690, dated May 9,' 1871.

IMPRQVEMENT IN BE'E-HIYES.

The Schedule .referred to these Letters Patent and making pari: of the same.

yTo all whom it 'mag/'concerne Be it known that I, WILLIAM R. Kmeqof Shelbyville, in the county of Shelby andA State of Kentucky, have invented certa-in new and useful Improvements in Bee-Hives; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon which form a part of this specification.

The nature of my invention 'consists in the construction and arrangement of a bee-hive, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In order to enable others-'skilled in the art to which my invention appeitains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, referring to the annexed drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section, and

'Figure`2 a longitudinal vertical section of my hive.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the same. l v i Figure 4 is a view of a portion of the rear side.

v A represents the brood-chamber, which is provided with a No: 8 wire bottom, B, arranged and fastened just below and within three-eighths lof an inch of the y brood-frames.

'Ihe object of using this particular size wire is that the openings will be large enough for the moth-worm to pass through but too small for the bees.

The moth-worms, when thrown down by the bees, pass directly through this wire bottom into the mothdrawer C, underneath.

This drawer is provided with strips, D D, of tin or Yother material, projecting inward over the edge, thus forming, as it were, a ceiling upon which the worms cannot crawl,r The moth-worms cannot,t herefore, return to the body of the hive nor escape in any way, but` are secure in the drawer and at the disposal of The inside of the brood-chamber A is double, being provided with a lining, E, of pasteboard, to be used in the winter, thereby removing the dead-air space behind the brood-frames, by which means the moisture" arising from the bulk of bees in the hive is absorbed and thus many colonies may be kept from freezing in winter.

rlhis pastehoard lining should be removed in warm weather, Vthus leaving space for the air to pass entirely behind the brood-frames. y

The brood-frames G Gr are supported upon cleats ra, a, in the sides of the brood-chamber, and are so constructed that they will fit close against each other', whereby sufficient heat is much easier generated for the purposes of building comb and rearing young brood.

In either or bothv ends of the chamber A are arranged surplns honey-chambers, G1 G1, between which kand the brood-frames G G are placed division-boards,l

structed of tin or other suitable metal, punched full of holes' of about one-thirty-second less than one-qnar ter inch in diameter, thus allowing the bees to pass into the surplus honey-chamber, but preventing the queen or dronesfromentering, as the holes are too small for them. l

Sheets, I I, of tin or other suitable material, are used, in connection with the division-boards, to shut olf entirely the brood-frames from the ysurplus honeychambers.

By this arrangement two colonies of bees may be kept in one hive, by removing the surplus honeyfrarnes and placing a division-board in the center of the hive.

Above the brood-box A or body of the hive is arranged a surplus honey-box or chamber, J, with frames Gr2 G2. I

VThese frames `are of the same size as the ones in the body ofthe hive, so that any one or all of them i or more of said surplus honey-frames with honey in Y them.

In each cf the frames of the hive is a comb-guide, I), constructed, as shown, with ,live sides; and between each and every frame is hung a tin comb-guide, d, `which compels the becs to attach their comb to the guide b, securing a straight comb in each and every frame, regardless of the will of the bees.

The tin comb-guides d d may be used with any frames regardless of the shape of the guide in said frames, and they may be removed as soon as the bees have started a sheet of comb in each frame.

The entrances tothe hive are provided with doors K K, arranged so 'as to` slide upwardv or to either side.

By this means a single bee may-be let in or out, or a number may be let in. Also, by this arrangement, the bees may be shut off from the surplus honeychambers below.

In one end of the hive is arranged a movable partition for holding all the frames close together, said partition forming between it and the end of the hive an air-space, W, and ventilators, Z Z, allow free passage of the air.

In the upper chamber of the hive is an additional airespace, W', with ventilator' Z'.

Having thus fully described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, ise- 'lhese ldivision-boards are covered or partly con- 1. The perforated division-boards H H, arranged on either 'side of the center of the chamber A, and the metallic eut-off I, arranged to operate as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The air-spaces YV \"V,vwith ventilators Z Z, arranged in one end of the hive, with nir-space N and ventilator Z of the upper chamber', substantially as herein sei; forth.

Witnesses T. H. ALEXANDER, J. V. WHITE.

WM. R. KING. 

